What Happened in 1956 — Events, Births & Deaths

A fire damages the top part of the Eiffel Tower.

The Greek National Radical Union is formed by Konstantinos Karamanlis.

Operation Auca: Five U.S. missionaries are killed by the Waorani of Ecuador shortly after making first contact.

Soviet Union cedes Porkkala back to Finland.

Elvis Presley makes his first national television appearance.

In the United States, Civil Rights Movement leader Martin Luther King Jr.'s home is bombed in retaliation for the Montgomery bus boycott.

The United States Merchant Marine Academy becomes a permanent Service Academy.

In his speech On the Cult of Personality and Its Consequences, Nikita Khrushchev, leader of the Soviet Union, denounces Stalin.

The International Air Transport Association finalizes a draft of the Radiotelephony spelling alphabet for the International Civil Aviation Organization.

Formation of the East German Nationale Volksarmee.

Soviet forces suppress mass demonstrations in the Georgian SSR, reacting to Nikita Khrushchev's de-Stalinization policy.

Tunisia gains independence from France.

Pakistan becomes the first Islamic republic in the world. This date is now celebrated as Republic Day in Pakistan.

Hudsonville–Standale tornado: The western half of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan is struck by a deadly F5 tornado.

Cuban Revolution: Fidel Castro declares himself at war with Cuban President Fulgencio Batista.

Francoist Spain agrees to surrender its protectorate in Morocco.

Actress Grace Kelly marries Prince Rainier of Monaco.

SS Ideal X, the world's first successful container ship, leaves Port Newark, New Jersey, for Houston, Texas.

Former Vice President and Democratic Senator Alben Barkley dies during a speech in Virginia.

In Operation Redwing, the first United States airborne hydrogen bomb is dropped over Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean.

The first Eurovision Song Contest is held in Lugano, Switzerland.

Elvis Presley introduces his new single, "Hound Dog", on The Milton Berle Show, scandalizing the audience with his suggestive hip movements.

Start of Gal Oya riots, the first reported ethnic riots that target minority Sri Lankan Tamils in the Eastern Province. The total number of deaths is reportedly 150.

Spanish football club Real Madrid CF wins the inaugural European Cup, UEFA's premier club competition, by winning 4–3 against French club Stade de Reims in the final.

A Venezuelan Super-Constellation crashes in the Atlantic Ocean off Asbury Park, New Jersey, killing 74 people.

The French National Assembly takes the first step in creating the French Community by passing the Loi Cadre, transferring a number of powers from Paris to elected territorial governments in French West Africa.

In Poznań, workers from HCP factory go to the streets, sparking one of the first major protests against communist government both in Poland and Europe.

The Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956 is signed by U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower, officially creating the United States Interstate Highway System.

A TWA Super Constellation and a United Airlines DC-7 collide above the Grand Canyon in Arizona and crash, killing all 128 on board both airliners.

The 7.7 Mw Amorgos earthquake shakes the Cyclades island group in the Aegean Sea with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent). The shaking and the destructive tsunami that followed left fifty-three people dead. A damaging M7.2 aftershock occurred minutes after the mainshock.

The Dartmouth workshop is the first conference on artificial intelligence.

Forty-five miles south of Nantucket Island, the Italian ocean liner SS Andrea Doria collides with the MS Stockholm in heavy fog and sinks the next day, killing 51.

Following the World Bank's refusal to fund building the Aswan Dam, Egyptian leader Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalizes the Suez Canal, sparking international condemnation.

A joint resolution of the U.S. Congress is signed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, authorizing In God We Trust as the U.S. national motto.

After going bankrupt in 1955, the American broadcaster DuMont Television Network makes its final broadcast, a boxing match from St. Nicholas Arena in New York in the Boxing from St. Nicholas Arena series.

Marcinelle mining disaster in Belgium. 262 coal miners, including a substantial number of Italian migrant workers, are killed in one of the largest mining accidents in Belgian history.

The nuclear power station at Calder Hall in the United Kingdom was connected to the national power grid becoming the world's first commercial nuclear power station to generate electricity on an industrial scale.

Elvis Presley appears on The Ed Sullivan Show for the first time.

The IBM 305 RAMAC is introduced, the first commercial computer to use disk storage.

The dike around the Dutch polder East Flevoland is closed.

TCN-9 Sydney is the first Australian television station to commence regular broadcasts.

A tropical storm originating in the eastern Pacific Ocean passes into the Gulf of Mexico and is upgraded and named Hurricane Flossy just hours before striking the Gulf Coast and causing 15 deaths and an estimated US$24.8 million in damages.

TAT-1, the first submarine transatlantic telephone cable system, is inaugurated.

USAF Captain Milburn G. Apt becomes the first person to exceed Mach 3. Shortly thereafter, the Bell X-2 goes out of control and Captain Apt is killed.

The New York Yankees's Don Larsen pitches the only perfect game in a World Series.

Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, leader of India's Untouchable caste, converts to Buddhism along with 385,000 of his followers (see Neo-Buddhism).

FORTRAN, the first modern computer language, is first shared with the coding community.

The first commercial nuclear power station is officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II in Sellafield, England.

The Soviet Union and Japan sign a Joint Declaration, officially ending the state of war between the two countries that had existed since August 1945.

The Mau Mau Uprising in Kenya is defeated.

Secret police shoot several anti-communist protesters, igniting the Hungarian Revolution.

Hungarian Revolution: In the towns of Mosonmagyaróvár and Esztergom, Hungarian secret police forces massacre civilians. As rebel strongholds in Budapest hold, fighting spreads throughout the country.

Hungarian Revolution: A de facto ceasefire comes into effect between armed revolutionaries and Soviet troops, who begin to withdraw from Budapest. Communist officials and facilities come under attack by revolutionaries.

Suez Crisis begins: Israeli forces invade the Sinai Peninsula and push Egyptian forces back toward the Suez Canal.

Hungarian Revolution: The government of Imre Nagy recognizes newly established revolutionary workers' councils. Army officer Béla Király leads anti-Soviet militias in an attack on the headquarters of the Hungarian Working People's Party.

Suez Crisis: The United Kingdom and France begin bombing Egypt to force the reopening of the Suez Canal.

Hungarian Revolution of 1956: A Revolutionary Headquarters is established in Hungary. Following Imre Nagy's announcement of October 30, banned non-Communist political parties are reformed, and the MDP is replaced by the MSZMP. József Mindszenty is released from prison. The Soviet Politburo makes the decision to crush the Revolution.

The Indian states Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, and Mysore are formally created under the States Reorganisation Act; Kanyakumari district is joined to Tamil Nadu from Kerala. Delhi was established as a union territory.

Hungarian Revolution: Imre Nagy announces Hungary's neutrality and withdrawal from the Warsaw Pact. Soviet troops begin to re-enter Hungary, contrary to assurances by the Soviet government. János Kádár and Ferenc Münnich secretly defect to the Soviets.

The Springhill mining disaster in Springhill, Nova Scotia kills 39 miners; 88 are rescued.

Hungarian Revolution: Nikita Khrushchev meets with leaders of other Communist countries to seek their advice on the situation in Hungary, selecting János Kádár as the country's next leader on the advice of Josip Broz Tito.

Suez Crisis: Israel occupies the Gaza Strip.

Suez Crisis: The Khan Yunis killings by the Israel Defense Forces in Egyptian-controlled Gaza result in the deaths of 275 Palestinians.

Hungarian Revolution: A new Hungarian government is formed, in which many members of banned non-Communist parties participate. János Kádár and Ferenc Münnich form a counter-government in Moscow as Soviet troops prepare for the final assault.

Soviet troops enter Hungary to end the Hungarian revolution against the Soviet Union that started on October 23. Thousands are killed, more are wounded, and nearly a quarter million leave the country.

Suez Crisis: British and French paratroopers land in Egypt after a week-long bombing campaign.

Suez Crisis: The United Nations General Assembly adopts a resolution calling for the United Kingdom, France and Israel to immediately withdraw their troops from Egypt.

Hungarian Revolution: János Kádár returns to Budapest in a Soviet armored convoy, officially taking office as the next Hungarian leader. By this point, most armed resistance has been defeated.

Morocco, Sudan and Tunisia join the United Nations.

In the midst of the Suez Crisis, Palestinian refugees are shot dead in Rafah by Israel Defense Force soldiers following the invasion of the Gaza Strip.

The Supreme Court of the United States affirmed a lower court ruling that invalidated Alabama laws requiring segregated buses, thus ending the Montgomery bus boycott.

The Granma reaches the shores of Cuba's Oriente Province. Fidel Castro, Che Guevara and 80 other members of the 26th of July Movement disembark to initiate the Cuban Revolution.

The Million Dollar Quartet (Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Johnny Cash) get together at Sun Studio for the first and last time.

A violent water polo match between Hungary and the USSR takes place during the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, against the backdrop of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956.

Trans-Canada Air Lines Flight 810-9, a Canadair North Star, crashes near Hope, British Columbia, Canada, killing all 62 people on board.

An Aeroflot Lisunov Li-2 crashes near Anadyr, killing all 12 people on board.

United Nations Security Council Resolution 121 relating to acceptance of Japan to the United Nations is adopted.

Irish-born physician John Bodkin Adams is arrested in connection with the suspicious deaths of more than 160 patients. Eventually he is convicted only of minor charges.

Chin Peng, David Marshall and Tunku Abdul Rahman meet in Baling, Malaya to try to resolve the Malayan Emergency situation.

The Romanian Television network begins its first broadcast in Bucharest.

Gustave Charpentier, French composer (born 1860)